Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who saw the conduct of West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 as State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), was on Monday (May 11, 2026) appointed Chief Secretary of West Bengal.
Mr. Agarwal is a 1990 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre and held several important posts before being appointed the CEO. During his tenure as the CEO, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was held in West Bengal, which saw around 91 lakh voters removed from the electoral rolls.
While Mr. Agarwal drew praise from several quarters for holding polls without any violence and threats, questions were raised about the conduct of elections with lakhs of voters being unable to exercise their right to vote.
Incumbent Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariala was named Principal Resident Commissioner in New Delhi, in the State government notification order issued on Monday.
The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party government under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to elevate the CEO to the top post in the State raised questions in the political circles. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose described the development “outrageous and brazen”.
